Mine dumps: Tau unveils recycling plan

Johannesburg - The mine dumps – familiar landmarks in Joburg, but also problematic in terms of health and spatial divisions – will soon be used as a valuable resource for the City of Joburg.

At the city’s annual general meeting for its entities and utilities on Tuesday, mayor Parks Tau said there were new technologies in place to recycle the mine dump sand into paving bricks and paper.

The council will be working with the mining houses who will extract the remaining gold, detoxify the sand and then use the new technology to convert the sand into bricks for city pavements and paper for use by the council.

“The mines are problematic and have traditionally divided the city between north and south. They will now be used as valuable resources for the city. Besides using the sand, the land can be rehabilitated and used for the planting of crops and biofuels. They will be a symbol of freedom and integration,” said Tau.

He also announced that all the city’s entities and utilities were to be placed under the whip in terms of customer service, service delivery and turnaround times, to prepare for the 2016 local government elections.

Tau said all the entities would be expected to sign service-level agreements with set standards for customer service.

“The city, as a shareholder, will strictly monitor them every quarter to see whether they have achieved these standards, and if not they will be held accountable,” he said.

The decision to improve service delivery had been taken during the ANC regional conference in October, he said.

Tau also announced that an ombudsman for the city had been appointed, and the office should be operational by April.

“His role will also include performance monitoring, and he will assist with holding officials accountable. He will not be toothless, and if he is successful, the Office of the Public Protector will no longer be needed for Joburg issues,” he said.

A second pillar of focus for the city is the corridors of freedom, of which three have either been constructed or are being established.

“These areas will increase densities around transport routes and integrate people so we will no longer be an apartheid city,” Tau said.

Jozi@Work, a R1 billion project to create 125 000 permanent jobs through the creation of co-operatives and small businesses, is on track and should start this month.

“Every utility and department is contributing a certain percentage of their budget to this, and this will increase each year,” said Tau.

Work includes separation projects, recycling, resurfacing of roads and assisting with infrastructure projects.

With regard to turning Joburg into a smart city, about 900km of fibre-optic cables had been laid. There were plans for 1 300 wi-fi hotspots by next year in public buildings and along the Rea Vaya routes.

“Although we have been slowed down by the debacle involving our termination of the tender to a service provider, we are close to a settlement and the project will then resume,” the mayor said.

The Star